


Wasting the time we've got

by Thorpe



Series: Words found at 4 a.m. [2]
Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Angst, Assumptions that hurt, F/F, Just a very angsty angst, Lack of Communication, Oblivous lesbians, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:06:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24828790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorpe/pseuds/Thorpe
Summary: Nicky doesn't catch the name. She’s pretty sure it’s because Crystal never said it, but, to be fair, she doesn't catch many things. It's hard to focus on what Crystal is saying when she can look at her instead. She'll write it off as a language barrier later, but it’s not that. It's… keen interest. That’s what it is. And Nicky totally isn’t thinking that it could also be translated as an infatuation, especially not when Crystal is telling her about the girl she likes.She’s asking for advice on flirting with someone else, so Nicky’s luck really isn’t the best.
Relationships: Crystal Methyd/Nicky Doll, Nicky Doll/Crystal Methyd
Series: Words found at 4 a.m. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816981
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	Wasting the time we've got

**Author's Note:**

> The biggest thank you and a box of tissues to each of my two wonderful betas, Mac and Eliza. Thanks for helping me out with this one. And also sorry for the emotional damage. It was fully intentional, though.
> 
> As usual, I don't own anything but my imagination.

One Euro is 1.12 of an American Dollar, so Nicky greets the airport with a flair of superiority in her step, and people do fawn over her accent, but no one really cares. The States aren't as great as television made it seem, but they are something new and entirely different, and it's just two semesters abroad, so she lets herself be lured in. Gets excited.

She's imagined she'd be partying in sororities, drinking from red plastic cups and playing beer pong, or spending 12 hours in a car on a cross-country road trip to see the biggest rocking chair in the world.

She isn't.

Her whole life consists of choosing literature classes and trying to figure out the difference between a freshman and a junior. And there’s also her roommate.

Crystal is sweet in a way that tells Nicky her parents are good people above anything else, and she seems to have a bigger problem wording her thoughts in English than Nicky has. She leaves long pauses and communicates in high pitched noises, and Nicky adores her for that. For that and many other things. There are so many reasons to adore Crystal that sometimes it feels like a default setting.

It’s month two and they’re sitting on Crystal’s bed on a Thursday evening. They have fairy lights on (Crystal’s doing) and a couple of candles lit (courtesy of Nicky), and it’s pouring rain on the outside (aided by no one in particular, as far as they know, but they make use of it by having a cozy night in). 

Nicky doesn't catch the name. She’s pretty sure it’s because Crystal never said it, but, to be fair, she doesn't catch many things. It's hard to focus on what Crystal is saying when she can look at her instead. She'll write it off as a language barrier later, but it’s not that. It's… keen interest. That’s what it is. And Nicky totally isn’t thinking that it could also be translated as an infatuation, especially not when Crystal is telling her about the girl she likes.

She’s asking for advice on flirting with someone else, so Nicky’s luck really isn’t the best. The subject annoys her and she offers the simplest, most cliché things she knows from movies in hopes of ending the conversation. It doesn't work. So she tells Crystal she’s not an expert, that she doesn’t know a thing about “American dating”. And that, it doesn't make it better. It makes it worse. Because Crystal starts giggling and decides they have to catch up on everything. She takes her to the movies, she takes her bowling, she fails to teach Nicky to rollerskate, and later they share a strawberry shake in a diner. It’s too pink and doesn’t taste of strawberries, but Crystal's eyes are sparkling and she blushes when she asks if Nicky is having fun. It’s nice. She is having fun. Too much fun. Too much fun to be having with a girl whose eyes reflect a whole galaxy of stars when Nicky asks her about the progress with her crush. She never tells her anything concrete, and Nicky is thankful for that, but Crystal looks down and plays with her fingers in a way that tells Nicky everything. It's going well.

Then, it gets even worse. Crystal comes to her for another piece of advice. She's so genuinely concerned, that Nicky forces down her jealousy and smiles. “Why don't you do something she likes?”

It gets worse, because Crystal is so sweet and she's so interested in Nicky's life. Asks about her hobbies and life in Marseille, goes to jazz concerts with her, memorises the names of her friends and her favourite Dunkin' Donut. She starts learning French from an app. Nicky jokes that when she comes to visit her in France, she won’t let her go. Will keep her there forever. It’s a joke, and Nicky is the only one who has any business knowing it’s not a joke at all. Crystal gets excited, too excited to speak, so she keeps nodding her head, making her curls and plastic beads on her necklace bounce. And Nicky knows Crystal is in on the joke, that she wouldn’t want to actually fly to another continent and stay with her forever, but she blushes like she would, and it  _ hurts _ . 

.

She’s been there for a whole semester already. Someone brings it up when they’re out with their friends and none of them can believe it. Crystal throws herself over Nicky, wrapping her arms around her, and asks Nicky not to ever leave in a shy whisper. Nicky just holds her tighter. If only Crystal knew. But she doesn’t and she can’t and she won’t. Nicky plays it off as a joke, like it wasn’t twisting the knife already stuck in her heart, but lets herself tangle her fingers in Crystal’s hair and stroke the back of her head. It could be enough, she tells herself.

Later, when they’re walking to their dorm, they’re holding hands, laughing. They’ve had a bit too much to drink, just enough not to care about zipping their jackets and to swear they can see twice as many stars as there actually are. They stop for a moment to count them, but they’re suddenly spinning, so Nicky holds Crystal and spins her too. They’re slowly swaying to the sound of the wind rustling the leaves. And then Nicky turns away from a would-be kiss. She shakes her head, puts a lot of effort into not crying. It’s not her. There’s someone else, who is not her, and Crystal would regret it when the alcohol wears off and the probability of Nicky’s chances significantly drops in percentage points. They keep dancing in silence and Nicky manages to make Crystal laugh again. Before they carry on walking, she presses a light kiss to Crystal’s temple. It’s not enough, and she doesn’t have it in her to lie to herself anymore.

.

“I think you need to get your shit together.”

Crystal’s been dancing around her crush for almost a whole year now, gushing about her, but not making any definite moves. Nicky probably wouldn’t survive seeing her with someone else, but she cares for Crystal’s happiness far more than for her own comfort, so she pushes her. 

“Was it out of line?” Nicky soothes, making up for her harsh words by putting two glasses of iced tea on the table in front of them. It’s a calculated move. Crystal’s been the one to introduce Nicky to the atrocity that instant tea is, and it always makes her happy when Nicky likes the things she shows her.

“No, but it doesn't mean I wanted to hear it.” Nicky chuckles at that. Crystal doesn't join her, but it doesn't make her worry.

“Are you angry?” She still asks. Crystal doesn't respond, just worries her lip between her teeth and does this thing with her fingers she always does when she's nervous. Nicky scoots closer. "You can't."

“I can't be angry?” Crystal finally looks at her and she doesn't seem mad - Nicky isn't sure she'd be capable of that, in all honesty.

"No. Not with me," she simply says and rests her chin on Crystal's shoulder. "It would kill me." Crystal lets out a frustrated huff, and Nicky smirks. She knows it's not fair, using that on sweet, kind Crystal, but she's never had one bad intention towards the other girl, so she feels pardoned. And who knows? Maybe it's the truth. Maybe it  _ would _ kill her. “I’m sorry, my love.”

“No, you’re right. I’m going to talk to her.” Crystal turns to look at her and her eyes are clear like the sky, but stern. She says it like she’s promising something to Nicky, and her heart drops at that. 

So, it’s happening.

.

She’s here. They’re at a party and the girl Crystal might be in love with is here. Nicky chose her best dress, spent an hour and a half on her makeup, and teased and coiffed her hair until her blonde curls were like white gold and looked purposefully, adorably disheveled, which usually made people beg to take her home with them. Crystal can’t stop looking at her and she lets herself hope that maybe it’s working, that maybe Crystal will choose her over this strange girl that could never love Crystal as much as Nicky does.

But then they get surrounded by a crowd of people and Nicky can’t stop herself from scanning every girl talking to Crystal, wondering if it’s  _ her _ . She looks at Crystal, searching for an exceptionally wide smile or a blush or a spark in her eyes. Crystal is covered in glitter, and Nicky swapped her highlighter for gunpowder, ashy and ready to go off. She winces when Crystal briefly lets go of her hand to hug a friend, and she feels her heart speed up at the thought that as soon as they run into  _ her _ , Crystal will let go for good. She can't be there, she can't risk seeing it. So she lets go first and heads to the bar.

She doesn’t see Crystal for the rest of the night. It comes with an effort, because Nicky is always looking at Crystal, naturally gravitating to her. But she’s scared of what she’d see if she turned around, so she stays rooted to her place on a barstool, looking for a distraction. When she finally gets up, she finds Crystal alone in a booth and presses a fleeting kiss to her cheek. It tastes sickeningly sweet from grenadine in the drink the woman standing behind her bought her - or maybe just from the idea of leaving with someone else. But she can't be here. So she places a kiss on Crystal's cheek and wishes her luck, before walking out with her date and not looking back.

The next day she doesn't need to ask how it went. Her heart breaks at how crushed Crystal looks when she comes back in the morning. Nicky curses herself for leaving her alone.

“Yeah,” Crystal chokes on a sob, “why couldn’t you just stay?”

She wants to burrow Crystal in her arms, hold her until the pain transfers onto her and Crystal smiles again, but she seems to reject all forms of comfort. She avoids hugs. She shuts off Nicky’s soothing. She shuts her off completely. And it hurts. Nicky's aching to hold her and stroke her hair and tell her it'll be better - she needs that for herself too. But since Crystal needs something else, she forces herself to go back to normal. To regular conversations and casual jokes. Pretends nothing's happened and that Crystal didn’t get her heart broken, breaking Nicky’s in the process. They don’t mention it again. 

They don’t mention a lot of things. They get distant, and Nicky swallows the lump in her throat. Crystal asks for space and there’s nothing more important to her than Crystal, so she gives her space and time and silence. The first time it feels like the old times again is the night before Nicky’s flight home. Crystal climbs into Nicky’s bed and clings to her and they cry as the sky goes from navy blue to indigo to lavender.

.

She texts Crystal when she lands and then calls her when she gets home.

"It was you, you know? That whole time. It was you."

"Crystal, I-"

"Yeah."

"It was you, too."

"Oh."

For a while, neither of them says anything, and Nicky's whole world falls apart with a single  _ "oh". _ She feels desperation claw at her throat because she's 4,899 kilometres away and  _ this is not happening _ . Except it is, because they're 4,899 kilometres and 3,043 miles away from each other, and there’s nothing they can do about it now. She swallows once. Twice. Nothing changes. It’s still too late.

"Goodbye, Nicky." Crystal ends the call, and Nicky stands there long after, her phone pressed to her ear, hoping to hear something else, to hear something that would make it all alright, because it can't end like this,  _ they _ can’t end like this, they-

The phone stays silent.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry?
> 
> If you feel like screaming, please do so in a comment down below or on tumblr (@Freykitten)


End file.
